World Ideas you think are cool or good

[Bendris Noulg]

Y'know, this is going to be completely out of character for me (grab your seat, Nightfall, lest ye tippith over), but with Epic in the SRD, I've had a rather odd idea: Eternia.

Yes, I am talking about the Eternia of He-Man, although, let me state this first before everyone freaks: Yes, He-Man's a munchkin.

However, I've been stuck watching it lately thanks to my 6 year old, and naturally, the gamer-engine keeps running because I'm utterly bored out of my skull. It did get me thinking, however, of a possible world environment in which "living gods" dwell upon the cross-roads or some form of nexus, fighting a war over this planar-bridge to which the spoils go to the victor.

The spoils, of course, being all of creation.

So, while I wouldn't like to see a He-Man RPG, I would like to see a campaign where the uber-potency of Epic has a real purpose as opposed to simply the next step on the PCs climb in power (and that would certainly be new!). In this world, one could say that the Average Ability Score is 6-7, with common folks (the "citizenry") having like 2d6 per Ability Score while PCs have something more akin to 2d6+6. I'd remove all semblance of spell-casting Base Classes, but then tweek the Epic Spellcasting rules to permit anyone with ample Ability Scores to learn Spell Seeds and design spells (still requiring the prerequiste Ranks, keeping magic out of PC hands until 7th Level, but then having it enter the fray with quite a bit of potency, giving you the martial/caster mix characters typified by that environment).

And while "living gods", I wouldn't suggest worship/priests for them; that would be just over-the-top.

Anyhow, if someone could do this without it being uber-cheesy (i.e., not a He-Man/She-Ra RPG), I'd probably dig it.

(Y'know, I haven't checked out the Immortal's Handbook, since high-level isn't my usual pipe-filler... Would that help with something like this?)

 

[tetsujin28]

Nightfall, as always, makes me laugh

What do I like? In a D&D world, where gods walk the earth (or once did), I want to see a history that includes the various machinations of the gods themselves. But the history ought to also show that countless people have lived and died with their own goals and ambitions. When those two factors are in alignment, then the world can really come alive.

That would be Glorantha

 

[tetsujin28]

double post

 

[tetsujin28]

Well, all of the major Moorcock characters have been plundered save Corum. Which would be way cool.

There still hasn't been a decent Celtic world. Slaine is too tied to the comic, and Celtic Age was a horrible mess of political ideology disguised as a D&D supplement. (Celts as Marxists who understand the relations and means of production? Right...See Victoriana for another example of how lame this is in an rpg.) Something like Pagan Shore was for Pendragon.

A Norse world that isn't Rune and makes sense.

A real kick-ass wu xia setting. Ah wait...that's Dragonfist. C'mon Chris, hurry up! ;-)

Someone mentioned Ben Hur. While it would be nice to have something set in the ancient world, it's kind of already been done with Testament. I would be tempted by anything set in Mesopotamia or the Minoan/Mycenean civilizations. But I'm weird.

Speaking of which, there's never been a Homeric setting. Why bother with Middle Earth tropes again and again when you can base your game on the foundation of Western literature?

A 'Mage'-type (the comic) setting for d20M. Sort of Epic for the modern world, where all the characters would be incarnations of great heroes.

Speaking of comics, I thought Leave it to Chance would make a great campaign. Sort of Harry Potter, sort of pulp, really charming.

 

[Trickstergod]

Worlds where heroes are heroes.

Which to me usually means low-magic and omnipresent evil. Places like Ravenloft or Midnight, where being a hero is a big deal, and likely to get you killed, and because of that, it matters all the more than in places like, say, the Forgotten Realms.

I also like worlds that, while not necessarily as logically consistent as Kalamar apparently is, at least strive for that to a degree. The pantheon of the Scarred Lands did this for me, as all the divine figures were interconnected and fit in with one another.

Another plus in my book is a world that takes traditional fantasy archetypes, giving most players some springboard of inspiration and common ground, but then twists it just enough to make it unique. Again, this is what Midnight has going for it, and the Scarred Lands has some of that in a limited capacity (forsaken elves, for one, though only with what's mentioned of them in the Termana hardcover or Creature Collection).

 

[Trickstergod]

Worlds where heroes are heroes.

Which to me usually means low-magic and omnipresent evil. Places like Ravenloft or Midnight, where being a hero is a big deal, and likely to get you killed, and because of that, it matters all the more than in places like, say, the Forgotten Realms.

I also like worlds that, while not necessarily as logically consistent as Kalamar apparently is, at least strive for that to a degree. The pantheon of the Scarred Lands did this for me, as all the divine figures were interconnected and fit in with one another.

Another plus in my book is a world that takes traditional fantasy archetypes, giving most players some springboard of inspiration and common ground, but then twists it just enough to make it unique. Again, this is what Midnight has going for it, and the Scarred Lands has some of that in a limited capacity (forsaken elves, for one, though only with what's mentioned of them in the Termana hardcover or Creature Collection).

 

[Trickstergod]

I also like worlds that don't have double-posts. Those are the best worlds. A world without double posting would be like...well, like heaven.

 

[tetsujin28]

As a double-poster, I agree. Double posts suck.

Another addition: d20 Exalted. No, really. My players are so lame about learning rules, and Exalted is so bloody cool, that it would be a great addition. But I'd have to right the thing myself.

 

[Gundark]

hmmm...settings/worlds that I think are cool.

iron kingdoms Well I have really been big into steamtech as of late. So this tops my list. now there are things which I don't like about this setting that I will modfy...but this setting has impressed me.

FR I like the patchwork of the realms. I just do....it's a neat setting, the organiztions, the gods. The downside is that you hate to mess with it as there is the "hey there is no city here!"

Shards This was someones homebrew....I thought it was a neat idea, I think you can find it on the website here somewhere.

my picks

 

[Buttercup]

Low magic, uncaring gods, yet still a spark of hope. With no metaplot at all. A world plunged in a dark age, but that has hope for a renaissance some day. Good maps. Lots of good maps. I like to see different cultures, especially if they despise each other.

Oh, and if there aren't any elves or gnomes, that's a huge plus.